A Light In India
This story is really remarkable. Husk Power Systems, based in India, has developed a method of generating power from the waste product of harvested rice: rice husks. The amount of power is small, but a husk generator can easily be installed in poor and rural areas, and provide enough power to light a few CFL bulbs and charge a few cell phones.
Such power needs in the developing world is sufficient and allows for vastly improved productivity during the evening hours: allowing shops to stay open longer and children to study longer as well.
In addition, the company has simplified their design so they can train mid-skilled locals to ensure operation and basic accounting. In this way they've become community change agents as well as energy providers.
It's a fascinating read and quite inspiring:
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/a-light-in-india/?src=me&ref=general
y’know, I could go for eatin’ a knife just about now…
alternative caption: "training for future sword swallowers"
Class and Waste –sus
Managing solid waste is largely as much a class issue as it is an environmental one. In developing countries, the social classes that have emerged from sorting and recycling garbage are increasingly relevant. As cities get denser and waste generation increases, municipal politics and economic corporate opportunities are upending traditional waste recycling systems and displacing many of the "underclasses" who have always done these jobs.
Two films that seek to illuminate the struggles and pride of the peoples who do this work are Waste Land and Garbage Dreams. Set in the slums of Rio and Cairo, respectively, they attempt to put human faces on the invisibility of processing our garbage. Both are captivating films that succeed in conveying the pride these people have in sorting and recycling what we throw away. I recommend both!
A sad day for Canadian Democracy
In an unprecedented legislative move, the Senate has killed a bill approved by the House of Commons that stated limits on greenhouse gas emissions. Such a procedural abortion has never before happened, as Commons bills always at least make it to the floor for a procedural vote.
This actually happened 2 weeks ago, and I'm happy to say that anger throughout the blogosphere has not yet subsided.
This, to me, demonstrates just how much of a threat climate change legislation still poses to the Tory government, and a searing reminder of just how far we as a people need to go to dispel the myths of climate change and its supposed economical consequences.
The Linc – America’s greenest stadium?
Saw this today:
The Linc in Philadelphia, home to my hometown team the Philadelphia Eagles, is aiming to become the "world's most sustainable stadium." I commend them on their efforts. A few bits here: the wind turbines and highly visible solar panels will actually only generate 11% of the stadium's electricity. The rest will come from a biodiesel / natural gas plant built nearby. Hardly "sustainable" IMO, but I think the publicity of the project makes it a big plus, and here's why:
I feel this is more important from a cultural point of view. The NFL and its cultural exports have a very strong effect on the psyche of American middle-class consumer culture. I view it as ground zero for an unsustainable lifestyle. If the whole world lived like the average NFL fan, we would have long ago destroyed all the pigs we need to make pigskin. It's the truck commericals, mindless analyst banter, grilling sausage dropping consumption machine. So if the Linc can demonstrate that renewable energy is acceptable, and maybe even cool to that demographic, then perhaps they can do more for behavioral change than all the Al Gore speeches in the world put together.
Oh yeah, one more thing: E - A - G - L - E - S EAGLES!!!
The single greatest issue in the US today
Income inequality. This argument (and eye-popping stats) by the Ambassador of Compassion, Nicolas Kristof:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/opinion/18kristof.html?src=me&ref=general
Really really worth a read - it poses some very important questions.
Class and Waste
Managing solid waste is largely as much a class issue as it is an environmental one. In developing countries, the social classes that have emerged from sorting and recycling garbage are increasingly relevant. As cities get denser and waste generation increases, municipal politics and economic corporate opportunities are upending traditional waste recycling systems and displacing many of the "underclasses" who have always done these jobs.
Two films that seek to illuminate the struggles and pride of the peoples who do this work are Waste Land http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1268204/ and Garbage Dreams http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1049415/. Set in the slums of Rio and Cairo, respectively, they attempt to put human faces on the invisibility of processing our garbage. Both are captivating films that succeed in conveying the pride these people have in sorting and recycling what we throw away. I recommend both!
Competitive greed
I was thinking the other day about motivators for sustainable change on a business level. I feel that there are other factors at work which prevent managers from objectively making better decisions about what products they buy, what decisions they make in their business, and how connected they themselves might feel to promoting environmental and social change. One impediment to progress is competitive greed. It's an easy target but one worth exploring. One of the impediments to widespread adaptation to sustainable practices is a reluctance to change for fear of losing ones competitive advantage. Examples:
I don't want to invest in energy-saving technologies because I don't trust the payback period. I don't want my employees to know how much energy they consume because that might put me at a staffing disadvantage.
To ignore or trivialize this motivator is suicide, of course.
Bit it is worth noting that a reevaluation of values might lead one to the conclusion that it is fear, not the supposed existence of higher cost, that stands as the reason we don't change our behaviors or use our purchasing power for good.
“Our obsession with growth and producing more is standing in the way of a better society”
Rethink the traditionally accepted models for macroeconomic recovery. They are inherently designed to deliver the same failed outcomes.
Watch this - it's really refreshing and right on the money.
http://www.livestream.com/rabbletv/video?clipId=flv_6fd10f84-9ef9-4814-9eb7-c79d9a9a4d9f